Senate Confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary, 52-48
The U.S. Senate on February 13, 2025, confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services by a vote of 52 to 48 in Washington. Kennedy was sworn in that afternoon in the Oval Office of the White House by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, becoming the 26th Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The vote fell largely along party lines: Senator Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to vote no, while every Democratic senator opposed the nomination. McConnell contracted polio as a child. Earlier, on February 4, the Senate Finance Committee had voted 14 to 13, also along party lines, to send Kennedy's nomination to the full Senate.
President Donald J. Trump nominated Kennedy in November 2024. Kennedy's long-running statements on vaccines were the central point of contention during his confirmation process; he testified before both the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, facing questions from senators of both parties.
The Department of Health and Human Services is one of the largest departments of the federal government, overseeing 13 agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It accounts for roughly $1.7 trillion in federal spending, and its Medicare and Medicaid programs cover about half of the U.S. population.
On the day of the swearing-in, Trump directed Kennedy to lead a commission studying the rise of chronic disease in the United States. Kennedy, 71, is the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and a nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He built his career as an environmental lawyer before becoming one of the most controversial figures in American public health debates.
(Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：小罗伯特·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）官方肖像。（美国卫生与公众服务部，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: Official portrait of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
